Hamilton legislator organizes 4th annual prom dress drive, free service for teenagers

Mercer County teenagers can turn to local legislators in the hope of saying yes to the dress without having to say no to the price tag.
The fourth annual Princess Prom Project organized by Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Mercer) is underway, with rooms in the 14th District legislative offices on Nottingham Way turned into temporary showing rooms for teenage girls.
"These dresses are an enormous cost to these families," DeAngelo said on Tuesday. "We know young girls don't want to wear the same dress twice, so we decided to set this up so girls who have worn a dress once or twice can donate it to someone who needs it."
Through the remainder of the season, the office is collecting gently worn formal and cocktail dresses, in any size, that will be passed on to girls getting ready for their high school proms, sweet 16 birthday parties or quinceanera. As long as the dresses are in good condition and clean, they will be accepted.
More than 200 dresses were already stockpiled at the offices on Tuesday and Elizabeth Meyers, DeAngelo's chief of staff, said there would easily be another 100 donated within the next few weeks.
"If you really add up the costs of a girl going to prom, you're easily at $500 — and that's without a limousine or flowers," Meyers said. "Even if you have a part-time job, that could be a month of working."
The dresses varied in color and style, from long gowns to casual dresses. Some were decorated with purses or jewelry and others still had the tags on them.
"There's an Armani dress in here that nobody wore," Meyers said. "We've been lucky that a lot of people brought in enough dresses so we can keep them year to year."
"A lot of the dresses involved aren't just someone's unwanted dress," DeAngelo said. "This is something that was extraordinarily nice, worn once or twice. Now, someone else has the chance to wear it again."
The Princess Prom Project is open to teenage girls living within the 14th District, including those who aren't able to get to the DeAngelo's offices in Hamilton.
Rise Community Services, a Hightstown nonprofit that provides referral and support services to individuals in eastern Mercer County, picks up and distributes the dresses each year to girls looking to attend middle school dances and quinceaneras, 15th birthday celebrations popular in Latin American communities.
Anna Vasquez, a senior case manager with Rise Community Services, was on hand Tuesday to pick out and take more than 20 dresses for students at Melvin H. Kreps Middle School in the East Windsor Regional School District.
"We'll lay them out and let them pick one or two," Vasquez said. "Usually, they'll get a hand-me-down from an older sister or borrow one from a friend."
"You never want to grow up and say, 'I couldn't go to the prom,'" Meyers said.
DeAngelo's office has scheduled three more "shopping days" for those interested in picking up a dress, set between 3 and 7 p.m. on March 25, April 9 and April 20.